Category: Vinyl / Tunes Blog

LED ZEPPELIN IV

Forty years ago Led Zeppelin ruled the charts and airwaves with the epic (and overplayed) “Strairway to Heaven”. I still remember when I first heard it. I was a senior in HS and my girlfriend’s best friend was ultra hip. She had somehow got a copy of LZ IV before the stores carried it. One listen and I knew what I’d be playing for my “Creative Poetry” class the following week. Everybody was mesmerized as the LP spun that day. I went King Crab fishing in Alaska six months later and was essentially incommunicado. By the time I returned it was playing every half hour on the radio. Continue reading “”

NEW MUSIC

There are several items of “new” music being released this week including Kate Bush’s latest atmospheric album 50 Words For Snow:

NPR live streaming of 50 Words For Snow

On Black Friday there will be several exclusive LPs, EPs and singles by a wide variety of artists made available through select stores linked to Record Store Day:

record store black friday list

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PINK FLOYD : MEDDLE

Pink Floyd’s sixth album was their breakthrough record in many ways. Many PF fans believe the end started with the earlier departure of Syd Barrett, but this next line up created some great art rock, including this surreal soundscape. The cover photograph portrayed a close-up of an ear underwater. Continue reading “”

MICHAEL FREMER’S MUSICANGLE

I’m at once humbled and honored to announce that I am writing for Michael Fremer’s well-known music website, MusicAngle.com.

A senior contributing editor to Stereophile with his column “Analog Corner,” and before that a writer for The Absolute Sound, Listener and his former magazine The Tracking Angle, Michael is one of the most respected experts in all things high-end audio and analog. He was also one of the few champion defenders of vinyl when it was close to becoming a dead format in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Thanks to Michael and others, listening to LPs has made a comeback and is now a thriving audio experience. Continue reading “”

NEW QUALITY RECORD PRESSINGS

CAT STEVENS : TEA FOR THE TILLERMAN

OK, I finally found a few hours to compare the various masterings of Cat Steven’s Tea For the Tillerman that I have in my collection.

First, let me say that I am both a fan of this album and Chad Kassem’s efforts as the producer of this new Quality Record Pressings LP reissue. Whether that disqualifies me from being objective, I will leave up to the reader.

In my mind, being a fan of an album ensures that you have listened to it repeatedly, and you are likely to be intimately familiar with the music on it. If you are also an “audiophile”, you probably have already gone through the trouble of acquiring more than one copy, and may have even compared these copies to see which one sounds best to you, maybe on numerous occasions. Guilty on all counts. Continue reading “”

BETH ORTON

Every once in a while I discover a musical talent who has somehow managed (for the most part) to fly under the pop mainstream radar. When I first heard the uplifting “Central Reservation” from Beth Orton’s album of the same name, I knew I had to hear more. I’m glad I did.

This lady has such a catchy, soulful and uniquely modern sound, she absolutely blows me away. Unfortunately she could have been blowing me away for the past ten years, because this album was released in 1999. The album before it, Trailer Park is just as amazing – as is the US top 40 one that followed in 2002, Daybreaker. Continue reading “”

WHO’S NEXT

Today marks the 40th anniversary of The Who’s best album. I would say arguably, but the only other contenders are The Who Sells Out, Tommy and Quadrophenia, and while these are all classics as well, none has this record’s cache.

“Won’t Get Fooled Again” becomes increasingly relevant with each passing year. And in light of today’s news that the U.S. credit rating has been downgraded for the first time ever, I’m playing this song at full volume. Hope the neighbors don’t complain… Continue reading “”

BLUE

Raw, personal, and confessional – this album bleeds aching beauty. Forty years after the day of its release, Blue remains the ultimate singer-songwriter album.

Upon breaking up with her boyfriend Graham Nash in late 1970, Joni Mitchell escaped to Europe writing many of the songs that appear on this album. Most were recorded with very bare production values, just Joni on her piano or guitar. Some songs center around Graham, “My Old Man,” some around her ex-husband, “The Last Time I Saw Richard,” some hint at love interest James Taylor, “Carey,” and some revolve around her lost daughter, “Little Green.” Continue reading “”

BILL EVANS

This month marks the 50th anniversary of the recording of the late Bill Evans’ famous live dates at the Village Vanguard in NYC. Evans is arguably one of the most influential pianists in jazz. His modal style is written all over Miles Davis’ classic Kind of Blue, and his use of impressionistic chord progression, inventive interpretation of traditional jazz favorites, and harmonic “singing” melodies has influenced a virtual generation of “who’s who” jazz pianists. Continue reading “”